Loop-regulating mechanism for knitting machines



2 2 9 1 s 3 2 y m d e t H e t a P a m 7 C 0 D E L H N w T A C H. DI P A 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

-llll lHHH M. ZWICKY.

LOOP REGULATING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I7, I919. v 1,417,289.. Patented May23,1922.

I 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELCHIOR ZWICKY. OF WYOMISSING PENNSYLVANIA. ASSIGNOR TO TEXTILE MACHINE WORKS, OF WYOMISSING, PENNSYLVANIA. A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

mama May as. was.

Application filed October 17, 1919. Serial No. 331,430. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T. Mnwnlon ZWIUKY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at 'yomissing. in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loop- Rcguiating Mechanism for Knitting Machines, of which the. following is a specification.

My invention relates to full fashioned knitting machines. and more particularly to the loop regulating mechanism thereof; and it consists in improved means for conveniently and accurately effecting fine adjustments of the length of the loops such as are required to produce a product of uniform texture, as "fully described .in connection with the accompanying drawing and defined in the subjoincd claims.

Fig. l is a cross-sectional elevation, and Fig. 2 a corresponding front elevation, showing my invention in connection with cooperating parts of a fullfashioned knitting machine; and Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary plan views showing the formation of different lengths of loops corresponding with different positionings of the needle bar.

Figs. 5 and G are enlarged detail views of my improved loop regulating means; Fig. 5 being a sectional view on the line-5--5 of Fi 2, and Fig. 6 a front elevation.

The needle bar 10 is raised and loweredby the vertically swinging arm 11 to raise and lower the needles 12"between the sinkers and dividers in forming successive loops; and it is also swung outwardly upon pivot center 13, by means of a presser lever 14:,

connected by a rod 18 to a needle bar arm l5 and operated by cams upon cam shaft 16 as controlled by a rocking loop-regulating shaft 17.

This swinging movement of the needle bar 10 positions the needles with respect to the fixed presser bar 20; forcing the needle beards against the latter to close them preliminary to drawing the loaded needles downward through a previously made loop,

and at a different time positioning the raised needles relative to the projected dividers and sinkers which bend the new thread around them so as to produce loops of one or another length as may be required.

The old loop-regulating mechanism indicated in Figs. 1 to 4 in connection with that to which my invention particularly relates, need only be sufficiently set forth to enable proper understanding of the latter as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Each of the series of needle-bar presser levers l4 commonly employed, is operated by a cam on shaft 16, bearing-upon a roller, like 37. mounted upon a pin which is adjustably secured to the lever 14 at 14; these cams and rollers being similar to and arranged in line with the cam and roller 37- clearly shown in Fig.1 in connection with the loosely mounted contact arm 36 and its roller pin 37. The downward extensions of these presser levers 14 are connected to springs 33 which normally press the rollers 37 01 the respective levers against their cams 25.

The loop-regulating shaft 17 upon which the contact arm 36 is loosely mounted, has fixedly secured to it arocking arm through which a rocking motion is imparted to the shaft 17 by contact arm 36; and also has a series of fixed stop arms 32, each with a pin 31 arranged to limit the spring-retracted movement of the lever 14; this limitation being determined by such rocking movement of shaft 17, instead of by the low portion of cam 25, so as to correspondingly change the ordinary length of loops.

My invention consists in improved means for controlling such rocking movement of the shaft 17 for the purpose stated; the main objects being to facilitate the accurate setting and resetting of the contact points as required by changes in the yarn or yarns at different stages of knitting operations, and to positively prevent derangement of the intended adjustment by the strains incident to operation. To this end the fixed rocking arm 30 on shaft 17 is provided with .an adjustable contact arranged in line lever 40 in aplane at right angles to the axis of the interior contact screw 35*, will I carry the latter bodily with it as determined by the pitch of the coarse screw thread 41 on the lever hub. As shown in the drawing both the interior and exterior screw threads of the hub portion 4:0 are preferably formed on an extending bushing 46 removably'secured by means of a screw 40", while the engaging screw thread 45 is formed by poured Babbitt metal.

The cylindrical top 30 of rocking arm 30 is formed with a heading flange 50, the periphery of which is provided with teeth 51 adapted to be engaged by a s ring-pressed plunger lock 52 mounted .in t e setting lever 40; while the head 53 of the contact screw is similarly engaged by a locking pawl 54 secured to said lever.

Secured to the front face of the heading flange 50 are lever stops 60, 61, adapted to positively limit the extreme movements of the lever and the corresponding projection or withdrawal of the separately adjusted contact 35, when said stops are adjustably set by means of lock bolts 62, 62 engaged in slots 60*, 61.

It will be understood that fine adjustment of the contact 35 is effected by operation of the interior screw 35*; that the setting of the stops 60 and 61 rovides for a full swing of the lever suiiicient to carry the set screw bodily from a position of maximum projection to a position of minimum proection as determined by the extremes of variation required in a givenfkn-itting operation; and that any intermediate projection desired is quickly measured by a determined number of teeth 51 from the fixed stops 60 or 61. The strains upon the contact 35 being axial to both fine and coarse adjusting screws, and the movements of adjustment being at right angles to such line of strain, there is no danger of accidental derangement of the determined settings in any section of the machine, and desired resettings are quickly and uniformly effected.

What I claim is: r

1. In a full fashioned knitting machine, the combination with a loop regulating mechanism comprising a spring-retracted needle-bar presser lever, an operating cam shaft therefor, and a loop-regulating shaft having lever stop arm's fixed thereto and a cam-operated contact arm loosely mounted thereon; of a rocking arm fixed to said loop-regulating shaft, a contact-setting lever having a hollow hub portion screw-threaded in said rocking arni and an axial contact-pin screw threaded in said hub portion, and

means for locking said hubbed lever iii differentscrewadjusted positions to determinedly project the separately adjustable contact pin.

2. In a full fashioned knitting machine, the combination with a loop regulating mechanism comprising a spring-retracted needle-bar presser lever, an operating cam shafttherefor, and a loop-regulating shaft having lever-stop arms fixed thereto and a cam-operated contact arm loosely mounted thereon; of a rocking arm fixed to said loopregulating having a ollow hub portion screw-threaded in said rocking arm and an axial contact-pin screw threaded in said hub portion, lever stops adjustably fixed to said rocking arm tolimit the maximum swing of said lever,

shaft, a contact-setting lever and means for locking said lever in determined intermediate position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my si nature.

- MELGHIOR ZWI KY. 

